Service Pack 1 for SharePoint 2013 has been a problematic affair with the initial release causing issues with application of subsequent updates. These issues were only impacting existing farms that had the service pack applied, and not farms built with the slipstreamed version of the installation media containing the service pack. Microsoft have now released an updated version of the service pack which should be applied on top of the previous version of the service pack.

New releases of SQL Server always have an impact on SharePoint. SharePoint depends so heavily on the functionality provided by SQL Server that there is usually a SharePoint Service Pack released to enable full supported compatibility. This post focuses on compatibility issues with SharePoint 2013, not with SharePoint 2010. SQL Server Enhancements Database Engine A lot of enhancements have been made to the database engine. Although SharePoint will not allow some of these features to be configured or utilised, some of them are available for utilisation.

A common task when carrying out a health check on a client’s SharePoint farm is to ensure that all databases are being backed up and that the database files have been sized correctly. Most of the time, a DBA will be tasked with carrying out backups and confirming that they are functional but in some cases, there is no DBA and there is no-one who can answer then questions around SQL Backups.

In the office recently we had a discussion about the number of ways that a user can install and run office products. It quickly became apparent that there was not a consistent understanding of all of the options. Purchase Mode There are now two different ways to purchase the Office suite: Packaged This is the traditional method of purchasing the software as a single package that contains installation media and a licence key.

I returned yesterday from attending SQL Saturday 269 in Exeter. As always the SQL community has pulled together to provide a fantastic day of free training for the attendees. I always consider an event like this a success if I achieve two things: I come away with a “Golden Nugget” of learning I meet some new people This year I achieved both of those, and I had a great time seeing people I know from previous SQL events.

When using IE to view RESTful calls the XML that you want to see may not be displayed and instead you get a message saying You are viewing a feed that contains frequently updated content… The solution is to follow these steps: In IE, go to Tools > Internet Options Select the Content tab Under Feeds and Web Slices click Settings Uncheck Turn on feed reading view Click OK The XML should now be visible when testing RESTful calls.

Microsoft have released a tool to help developers move full trust SharePoint solutions to the the SharePoint 2013 App Model. The tool works by allowing a farm solution to be uploaded and analysed and the output to be downloaded by the developer. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/officeapps/archive/2014/03/04/introducing-the-sharepoint-and-vba-code-analyzer.aspx https://www.office365appmigrations.com/

I have recently moved my blog to WordPress. As a SharePoint advocate this feels a little wrong: I should use SharePoint surely! I used to blog using WordPress and then when I got an Office 365 subscription I moved my blog to SharePoint Online. I found the workarounds required to set up the public site of SharePoint Online confusing: Why would this not be a simple configuration? Once set up, the SharePoint Online blogging experience rapidly started to show cracks:

There are some great posts out there on sets of useful tools that are essential when working with SharePoint, chief among them is Tobias Zimmergren’s post Tools for your SharePoint 2013 development toolbox. Tobias’s post inspired my to do this post as I have also found some additional tools to be invaluable: Design Tools Balsamiq This is a great tool for rapidly producing wireframes. It requires very little time to learn and produces wireframes that are sufficiently lifelike for clients to picture how their SharePoint solution will work.

After upgrading to Windows 8.1 sometimes Chrome looks a little blurry. Needless to say that this is most frustrating and can cause headaches if not resolved. The easy fix for this is to right click the icon, and then right click the Google Chrome option and click Properties In the setting screen, select the Compatibility Tab Check the Disable display scaling on high DPI settings option. Chrome should now be displaying as clearly as it was before.